Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676) succeeded Monteverdi as maestro di cappella at St. Mark's and as the preeminent opera composer in Venice. His operas, which sparkle with wit, drama, and expressiveness, were modeled on Monteverdi's while further developing the form, and they remain vital and effective music theater. In the sacred music recorded here, however, Cavalli was staunchly conservative, even regressive, writing in a style more representative of the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century than the mid to late ...
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Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676) succeeded Monteverdi as maestro di cappella at St. Mark's and as the preeminent opera composer in Venice. His operas, which sparkle with wit, drama, and expressiveness, were modeled on Monteverdi's while further developing the form, and they remain vital and effective music theater. In the sacred music recorded here, however, Cavalli was staunchly conservative, even regressive, writing in a style more representative of the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century than the mid to late seventeenth century. If these were the works of a minor composer, it would be easier to hear them as perfectly respectable examples of early Baroque liturgical music, but coming from a composer as masterful as Cavalli, they are disappointingly conventional. Whether Cavalli was intentionally evoking an earlier era, or aiming to accommodate the tastes of his ecclesiastical superiors, the music performed here is rarely recognizable as the work of the composer of Giasone and La Calisto. The...
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